God's Love Story

God’s Love Story
Matthew 1: 1 and 18 – 25.


I. Introduction.

John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Does that sound like the story of Christmas? Or does that sound like the story of Easter? In some ways it is hard to tell the difference between Christmas and Easter. On one hand, Christmas and Easter are difference in that they remember different events in the life of Jesus: Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth and Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. On the other hand, Christmas and Easter have a lot in common: both the birth of Jesus and the death and resurrection of Jesus demonstrate God’s love.

Christmas and Easter are interdependent. You can’t have one without the other. If there were no Christmas, there would be no Easter. If there were no Easter, Christmas would be empty and meaningless. Jesus had to be born before he could offer his life as a sacrifice for our sins and to rise again to give us eternal life. However, if Jesus never died on the cross and rose again, then the birth of Jesus would be nothing more than the birth of a baby.

Four weeks ago, we began the Season of Advent. I told you that we were not going to rush into Christmas. We took some time to prepare for the coming of Jesus. We are not only preparing for the coming of Christmas Day; we are preparing for the coming of Jesus. Just as Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas, we wait in expectation for Jesus to come to earth a second time.

Both the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus signal a new day. The birth of Jesus is the source of true Hope, true Peace, true Joy and true Love. The second coming of Jesus will be the final realization of true Hope, true Peace, true Joy and true Love.

In fact, I think this is the big difference between Christmas and Easter. Christmas and Easter are two parts of the story of Jesus. Christmas is not the whole story of Jesus. Easter is not the whole story of Jesus. Christmas and Easter together are not the whole story of Jesus. Christmas and Easter are simply two points in the story. Christmas is the beginning of the story, and Christmas is all about Potential. Easter is the middle of the story, and Easter is the first stage of Fulfillment. The Second Coming of Jesus is the end of the story, and the Second Coming is when all God’s promises will be fulfilled.

The story of Jesus—Christmas, Easter and the Second Coming—is the story of God’s Love for us. But, it would be a mistake to think the story of Jesus is God’s only love story. The fact is that God’s Love story began with the story of Creation. It continued through the entire Old Testament. It became Personal when God sent his Son, Jesus, on that first Christmas Day.

There four Gospels in the New Testament that tell the story of Jesus’ life. However, only two of those Gospels thought it was important to tell the story of Jesus’ birth. The traditional Christmas story is in Luke 2. The other Christmas story is in Matthew 1.


Read Matthew 1: 1.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:(NIV)

II. Theological Statement about Jesus.

Matthew begins his Gospel with three statements about Jesus. He begins with a theological statement. He then makes a historical statement. He follows it up with a statement that integrates theology and history.

Theologically speaking, Matthew tells us three things about Jesus in verse one. First, Matthew tells us that he is writing the story about Jesus the Christ. Our English word “Christ” comes to us almost directly from the Greek word “Christos.” Christos is the Greek form of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” In other words, Matthew is telling us in the very first verse of his Gospel exactly why he is writing this book. He is writing to prove that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. Of course just because Matthew tells us that Jesus is the Messiah does not mean that we are going to believe him. That is why he writes the rest of the book. He wants to lay out all the facts about the life of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the various Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, which were fulfilled by Jesus.

To believe Matthew’s claim that Jesus is the promised Messiah is the one thing that caused the Christian faith to become a separate faith. Some people in the First Century thought that Christianity was a sect of Judaism. The Christians saw themselves as separate from Judaism. We are different, because we recognize Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, and because we worship Jesus as Lord.

Second, Matthew tells us that Jesus is the “Son of David.” This title makes two very important points about who Jesus is. It is an obvious reference to Jesus’ role as the Promised Messiah. All first century Jews believed that the Messiah would be a descendant of David. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that one of David’s descendants would always be king over God’s people.

Very closely related to this Messianic claim, Matthew’s claim that Jesus is “Son of David” indicates that Jesus is to fulfill a kingly role. This fits very well with the rest of Matthew’s Gospel in that Jesus announces the Kingdom of Heaven has come to earth. That Kingdom is not a political kingdom defined by the boundaries of Israel. It is a Kingdom which is spiritual in nature. It is the realm in which God is sovereign.

Third, Matthew tells us that Jesus is the “Son of Abraham.” Again, I think this claim serves a dual purpose. At a very basic and literal level, it tells us that Jesus is related to Abraham. Just as Jesus has a legitimate claim to the throne over God’s people through his relationship to David, so Jesus has a legitimate claim to the Jewish heritage through his relationship to Israel’s founding father, Abraham.

However, I also think we are supposed to remember the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12: 1 – 3, The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."”

Through Jesus’ relationship to Abraham, Jesus can claim to be a legitimate member of God’s people. Through Jesus’ relationship to Abraham, Matthew can claim that God is fulfilling his promise to extend God’s Kingdom and God’s blessing beyond the political borders of national Israel. Through Jesus, all nations and all peoples can receive God’s blessings…Ultimately, this means God loves all people!


III. Historical Statement about Jesus.

I am not going to read Matthew 1: 2 – 17 today. This does not mean these verses are not important. In fact, they are very important. It is just difficult to listen to someone read a list of names of fathers and sons from Abraham to Jesus.

Matthew does this to prove his claims about Jesus. Matthew knows that it is not enough simply to claim that Jesus is Son of David and Son of Abraham. The Jewish men and women who read this Gospel needed historical proof. Therefore, Matthew traces Jesus’ family through the stories of the Old Testament and Jewish history.

Theologically, Matthew claims that Jesus is the Promised Messiah. Historically, Matthew shows us how Jesus can be the Promised Messiah. He also shows us that God has been at work throughout the entire history of Israel. Jesus is the Messiah, because God has brought all things together for this moment in history. The birth of Jesus was no accident. It was a divinely inspired event which was only possible through God’s constant work in the lives of ordinary Jewish people.


Read Matthew 1: 18 – 25.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-- which means, "God with us."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.(NIV)


IV. When Theology Entered History.

The NIV translation of verse 18 tells us this is the story of the birth of Jesus the Christ. Since we just read verse one a few minutes ago, you can hear that Matthew is repeating himself here by claiming Jesus as the Promised Messiah of the Old Testament. But, this is not the only phrase Matthew has repeated. Literally, verse 18 reads, “This is how the GENESIS of Jesus the Christ came about.” The Greek word GENESIS is the same word Matthew used in verse one—“A record of the GENESIS of Jesus the Christ…”

While the word GENESIS can be translated either genealogy or birth, it could also mean GENESIS. Perhaps this is a way of reminding us of the first book of the Old Testament, which contains the story of creation and the story of the first human being. If so, Matthew is writing about a New Creation. This New Creation is not something done by human efforts. It was a direct result of God’s breaking into human history in the form of a miraculous birth.

The Bible is filled with stories of miraculous births. We spent several weeks this year reading the story of the life of Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Yet, Abraham and his wife could not have children. They struggled with their faith in God’s promises to them. They tried to do things their own way, by having children with another woman. But, that was not God’s plan for them. God waited until Abraham was 100 years old to fulfill his promise and make Abraham a father.

When Abraham and Sarah had a child, it was a miracle. It was miraculous, because 100 year old men and 90 year old women are supposed to be beyond the age of child bearing. But, the birth of Isaac happened in the natural way—husband can wife coming together to bring a baby into the world. The birth of Jesus was different. It was a miraculous birth, because it happened in a way that was physically impossible! Jesus was conceived by an act of God in the womb of a virgin woman.

The virgin birth is significant because it shows us that Jesus is no ordinary human. Jesus is the divine Son of God. Since Jesus is divine, he is the only One capable of offering himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Since Jesus was born of a woman, we can also say that he is fully human. As the fully human Son of God, Jesus is the only One capable of communicating the Love of God to us in a way we can understand it. He taught us about the Love of God through his preaching and his parables. He demonstrated the Love of God to us by living his life as our example.

Jesus, the fully human and fully divine Son of God, is the only example worth following in life. Other people will let you down. Your spouse, your boyfriend / girlfriend, your parents, your children, your friends, your pastor…All other people will let you down.

If you go back and read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1: 2 – 17, you will discover something very interesting about Jesus. According to Matthew’s genealogy, Jesus was “Son of David” and “Son of Abraham,” because he was Joseph’s son. But, the virgin birth demonstrates that Jesus was NOT Joseph’s son. Jesus was the son of Mary and the Son of God. Does that mean we are wrong to insist that Jesus is the Promised Messiah?

Matthew 1 describes a very important event in Joseph’s life. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant before they were married, he thought about divorcing her. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, because we associate divorce with marriage. A couple has to be married before they can be divorced.

That was not the case in the ancient world. Engagement was much more complicated and meaningful than it is for us. When Mary and Joseph became engaged, they entered into a legal arrangement that could only be dissolved by a written divorce. They were pledged to be married to each other. In the eyes of the law, they were already married and considered husband and wife. They were married in almost every sense of the word. Engaged couples were considered married; but they could not live together in the same house, and they could not have sexual relations. Therefore, Mary’s pregnancy was scandalous!

According to the Law, Joseph had only one option. He could not go ahead and marry his fiancée. If Joseph married his pregnant fiancée, he would have committed a sin. The only option was to file the necessary paperwork and get a divorce. But, Matthew tells us that Joseph was “a righteous man.” I think this tells us he wanted to do the right thing in the eyes of the Law, and that he wanted to demonstrate his love for Mary. So, he created his own option. He would fulfill the requirements of the Law by divorcing Mary, but he would demonstrate love by divorcing her in a private way. He would not damage her reputation by dragging her through a public divorce, and he would not press criminal charges that would certainly result in the death penalty for Mary.

Joseph’s righteousness placed God’s plans in jeopardy.

This is why God stepped into history by sending an angel to visit Joseph during the night. In this very brief encounter, the angel did several things for Joseph.

First, the angel gave Joseph the assurance he needed. The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to proceed with the marriage. The angel confirmed Mary’s story. As unlikely as it sounded to Joseph, this baby growing inside Mary really is the Son of God. God had created this new life, and God was going to work things out for Mary and Joseph.

Second, the angel gave Joseph some very specific instructions. Go ahead with the marriage. Then, Joseph was instructed to name the baby Jesus.

Naming a baby doesn’t sound like a very big deal to you and me in twenty-first century American culture. Lots of people get involved in naming babies in our culture. When a woman is expecting a baby, everyone has an opinion. Everyone wants to tell you what they think would be a good name for your child. In the ancient world, naming was the responsibility of the father.

For boys in Israel, the father usually waited until the eighth day to name the baby. It was a part of the circumcision ritual. Through circumcision, the family was declaring this child is a part of God’s people. Through naming the child, the father was declaring this child was his child.

It was normal and natural for a biological father to name his own child and to claim the child as his own. But, what about Joseph? Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. Therefore, Joseph’s naming of Jesus has a different meaning. It was basically the same thing as modern day adoption. When Joseph named Jesus, he claimed Jesus as his own. He accepted Jesus into his own family. He offered Jesus all the same rights and privileges of his natural born son. He adopted Jesus into the family of Joseph, David and Abraham.

It is worth noting here that there was NO DIFFERENCE between the rights of biological children and adopted children. If the father named the child, the Law recognized the child as legitimate!


V. Conclusion.

The name Joseph gave to his son was significant. In fact, Matthew tells us this child had two names: Immanuel and Jesus.

For Hebrew families, names were significant. A name represents the character and the destiny of the child. Therefore, both names mentioned in Matthew 1 are important.

First, his name is Immanuel. The fulfillment of Isaiah 7: 14. El is one of the Hebrew names for God. Immanuel means “God is with us.” In God’s Love Story, God has not left us alone. He has sent himself to live among us…to live out his Love.

Second, his name is Jesus. This is a form of the Hebrew name Joshua, or Yeshua. The name literally means Yahweh Saves. Just as Joshua in the Old Testament was a savior for God’s people, so Jesus would be a savior. There is one big difference. Joshua was a political and military savior. Jesus is a spiritual savior. He meets our greatest need by offering us salvation from sin.

This is what Love truly means. If you love someone, you will meet their needs. God recognized that we are very needy people. Ultimately, we do not need solutions to our political or military problems. We need a solution to our spiritual problem.